Mom arrested in child beating case

Police on Wednesday arrested the mother of a 2-year-old girl found severely beaten in a St. Charles hotel last October. The arrest came less than a day after a Kane County grand jury indicted the woman on seven felony counts in the beating and subsequent attempts to cover it up.

Cathleen Koch, 28, was last known to reside in a hotel room on the 1500 block of East Main Street where the beating occurred, police said. She was located in front of a relative's house on the 3000 block of Preakness Court in Aurora.

Koch was taken to the St. Charles Police Department where her bail was set at $100,000. She is currently at the Kane County jail awaiting her court date Thursday afternoon.

Koch faces one count of aggravated battery to a child, six counts of obstructing justice and six counts of endangering the life or health of a child.

Koch's boyfriend will also appear in court Thursday. He's been in custody since police located him two days after the incident.

James C. Cooper is the person authorities believe did the actual beating of the child. He has been charged with one count of aggravated battery to a child and three counts of endangering the life or health of a child.

The 2-year-old remains in the hospital recovering from the injuries suffered in the beating, which resulted in severe brain swelling from a skull fracture.

Emergency personnel initially found the child unconscious and not breathing.